From time to time, the Company grants stock options and restricted stock awards to directors, officers and employees. These awards are valued at the grant date by determining the fair value of the instruments, net of estimated forfeitures. The value of each award is amortized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period.

Stock Options

The following table summarizes stock option activity for the years ended September 30, 2016 and 2015:

The Company recognized compensation expense of $256,145 and $712,538 during the years ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively, related to stock option awards granted to certain employees and officers based on the grant date fair value of the awards, net of estimated forfeitures.

At September 30, 2016 the Company had $3,653 of unrecognized compensation expense (net of estimated forfeitures) associated with stock option awards which the company expects will be recognized through June of 2017.

During the year ended September 30, 2015, the Company reduced the exercise price by 50% for the 100,000 stock options then outstanding. The Company recognized compensation expense of $54,677 related to the re-pricing of the exercise price for these options.

The exercise price for stock options outstanding and exercisable at September 30, 2016 is as follows:

The following table summarizes information about the Company’s non-vested shares as of September 2016:

For stock options granted during 2015 where the exercise price equaled the stock price at the date of the grant, the weighted-average fair value of such options was $11.52 and the weighted-average exercise price of such options was $15.18. No options were granted during 2016 and 2015, where the exercise price was less than the common stock price at the date of grant or where the exercise price was greater than the common stock price at the date of grant.

The assumptions used in calculating the fair value of stock options granted use the Black-Scholes option pricing model for options granted in 2015 are as follows: